Edible Wild Fruits of New York. 



97 



provement under cultivation, and the ability of the plant to adapt 

 itself to a variety of soil and location seems to indicate the feasibility 

 of its cultivation. Yet, so far as I am aware, no persistent attempts 

 have been made to cultivate it. Farmers who have it growing iu their 

 pastures or woodlands would do well to experiment a little with it and 

 see what effect care and culture may have upon it. They might at 

 least see what a little judicious pruning and feeding will do, without 



The genus Vaccinium is represented in New York by nine species, 

 two of which are cranberries and seven are blueberries, bilberries and 

 deer berries. Four species of blueberries contribute to supply our 

 markets with this excellent fruit. These berries are about the size of 

 peas and are all so much alike in every respect that no effort is made 

 by pickers or dealers to keep the different species separate. Nor is it 

 necessary, for not many purchasers can tell whether one kind or four 

 kinds fill the basket they buy. The fruit is excellent for eating fresh 

 upon the table or for making pies and puddings. It is easily preserved 

 in glass jars for winter use and retains its flavor well. Its seeds are 

 so small that they occasion no inconvenience. The berries are juicy 

 and, when fully ripe, just acid enough to be agreeable to most people. 

 We have scarcely learned yet to estimate them at their true value. 

 Any efforts that may have been made to cultivate these fruits have not 

 apparently been sufficiently successful to make their cultivation popu- 

 lar or general. And yet we find in our gardens other fruits far less 

 desirable and much less worthy of cultivation than the blueberries. 

 Our markets are at present fairly well supplied with the product of 

 the wild plants. But with an ever-increasing demand and with the 

 diminished supply that must follow the draining of our swamps and 

 the reclaiming of our wild lands it is easy to see that this supply can- 

 not always last. The time cannot be far distant when we must either 

 produce these berries in our fields and gardens or do without them. 



The high blueberry {Vaccinium corymbosum) is our largest grow- 

 ing species. It is locally known as swamp blueberry and high bush 

 huckleberry. It grows in clumps, or clusters, of a few individuals 

 and is generally four to six feet high . It grows in swamps, about the 

 margins of lakes, along streams, or even on uplands in cool, hilly dis- 

 tricts. It has one advantage over the other species. The picker can 

 stand erect while gathering the fruit. Full grown species have been 

 successfully transplanted by removing a whole clump together early 

 in the spring before the frost had left the gronnd, so that a large mass 

 of the soil in which thev grew could be removed with them while 



